Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/278615 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
AWI Discussion Paper Series No. 730
Publisher: 
University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Information can trigger unpleasant emotions. As a result, individuals might be tempted to willfully ignore it. We experimentally investigate whether increasing perceived control can mitigate strategic ignorance. Participants from India were presented with a choice to receive information about the health risk associated with air pollution and later asked to recall it. We find that perceived control leads to a substantial improvement in information retention. Moreover, perceived control mostly benefits optimists, who show both a reduction in information avoidance and an increase in information retention. This latter result is confirmed with a US sample. A theoretical framework rationalizes these findings.
Subjects: 
information avoidance
information retention
perceived control
motivated cognition
air pollution
JEL: 
D83
I15
Q53
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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